Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-2011
Abstract
Background: Multiple sclerosis is a progressive neurological disease that results in a high incident of gait disturbance. Exploring the frequency content of the ground reaction forces generated during walking may provide additional insights to gait in patients with multiple sclerosis that could lead to specific tools for differential diagnosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in the frequency content of these forces in an effort to contribute to improved clinical management of this disease.
Methods: Eighteen patients and eighteen healthy controls walked across a 10 meter long walkway. The anterior–posterior and vertical ground reaction forces generated during the stance phase of gait were evaluated in the frequency domain using fast Fourier transformation. T-tests were utilized for comparison of median frequency, the 99.5% frequency, and the frequency bandwidth between patients and healthy controls and also for comparisons between patients with mild and moderate severity.
Findings: Patients with multiple sclerosis had significantly lower 99.5% frequency (P = 0.006) and median frequency (P < 0.001) in the vertical ground reaction force. No differences were found in the anterior–posterior reaction force frequency content. There were no differences between patients with mild and moderate severity.
Interpretation: The lower frequency content suggests lesser vertical oscillation of the center of gravity. Lack of differences between severities may suggest presence of differences prior to currently established diagnosis timelines. Analysis of the frequency content may potentially serve to provide earlier diagnostic assessment of this debilitating disease.
Journal Title
Clinical Biomechanics
Volume
26
Issue
2
First Page
207
Last Page
212
Recommended Citation
Wurdeman, Shane R.; Huisinga, Jessie M.; Filipi, Mary; and Stergiou, Nikolaos, "Multiple sclerosis affects the frequency content in the vertical ground reaction forces during walking" (2011). Journal Articles. 147.
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/biomechanicsarticles/147
Comments
NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Clinical Biomechanics. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Clinical Biomechanics,Vol. 26, Issue 2 (February 2011) doi:10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2010.09.021.